Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas
Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
The stars of the show this year with up to seven in the garden at any one time. Feeding on nectar and then the fallen over-ripe plums.
Tourists on Table Mountain may miss the mammalian interest simply because they spend so much time looking at the views that they forget the rocks below their eyeline. On those rocks, often only inches from the edge, are groups of Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis) doing what hyraxes do best and for a long time—lying in the sun, interrupted only by playful young, itches that have to be scratched and overhead large predators. If South Africans spot them they will immediately call them 'dassies' because that's what they call hyraxes in southern Africa.
Everybody knows that hyraxes are most closely related to elephants but they are fascinating animals for all sorts of reasons. Some features like their feet are obvious.They have sweat glands on the soles such that they are tacky when climbing. The soles of their front feet touch the ground when walking; in other words they are plantigrade. The heels of the hind feet are raised slightly off the ground when walking. This semi-digitigrade condition is one which provides some spring to their step when moving on rocks.
Other features are not so obvious. The generic name, procavia, was derived from cavy (i.e. guinea-pig), early taxonomists considering them some primitive form of the South American rodents. Apart from appearance they do share some characteristics with cavies: a long gestation (very long in the hyrax, 6-7 months); young are mature at birth, able to run around and soon eating solid food. They also have peculiarities during pregnancy. In most mammals, the hormone progesterone increases in concentration in blood as pregnancy progresses; in hyraxes it does not, the blood itself metabolising the hormone into different compounds. Two of my former colleagues did that research in the 1970s. That raises all sorts of questions as to what induces parturition and the onset of lactation in hyraxes.
In the days when colour printing was extremely expensive, the Avicultural Society had special appeals for funds to support the appearance in Avicultural Magazine of the occasional colour plate. A well-known bird artist was then commissioned. Although the whole run of the Society’s magazines can be found online, the plates rarely see the light of day. Therefore I decided to show one, now and again, on this site. This is the 22nd in the series.
– – – – – – – – – –
The plate bore the signature of M. Dovaston. That can only be Margaret Isabel Dovaston (1884-1954) although the subject was far from that for which she is best known—oil paintings of historical English interior scenes depicting groups of figures from the 18th century. She produced these in considerable numbers which together with prints sold particularly well in North America. They became popular decorative art for living rooms. Originals still sell well, with up to US$44,000 recorded. She had a studio in Acton. She was educated at South Kensington School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. A clue that she must be the artist of the plate in Avicultural Magazine is that she kept budgerigars and other birds. She was not a member of the Avicultural Society and this is the only painting by her I can find in Avicultural Magazine.
The article accompanying this plate was written by Albert Sherriff (1895-1968), a stockbroker living in Hampstead, who earlier in the century had changed his name from Sondheim. Sherriff had also donated the plate which suggests he commissioned Miss Dovaston to paint the sibias. He wrote:
The Grey Sibias, so well portrayed on the opposite page by Miss Dovaston, are new to aviculture. They were imported from Sumatra by Mr. Frost in the early part of 1936. They are about the size of a Shama with an equally long tail which is barred with white on the underside.
Early last year I gave two of these Sibias an aviary to themselves, and was fortunate enough to find that they were a true pair as there is no apparent sex difference. A nest was built in the fork of a tree in which two blue eggs, similar in size to those of a Blackbird, were laid. After sixteen days the young were hatched and were well cared for by the parents.
Unfortunately, three days later, I decided to try the same experiment with the Grey Sibias as had been so successful with the Black-headed, and allowed them liberty. The second night after, the cock forsook the aviary and disappeared…
Because it was very difficult to provide enough small invertebrates for birds in captivity to rear their young successfully, it was common practice for birdkeepers to open their aviary doors and allow birds to forage for themselves in the neighbourhood. Local sparrowhawks and cats were often the grateful recipients of easily-caught and unexpected meals.
Wilfred Frost was a well-known collector in south-east Asia about whom a book could and should be written. He sold his birds to zoos and wealthy collectors like Sherriff.
Both common and scientific names have been changed since 1937. The birds from Sumatra have been 'lumped' and are now regarded as a subspecies of Heterophasia picaoides, H. p. simillima. The Long-tailed Sibia occurs from Nepal and south-western China through south-east Asia to Sumatra.
 |
| Richardson's Ground Squirrel or Flickertail Minot, North Dakota 2023 |
In 2023 I described how we had seen the Flickertail or Richardson’s Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii) when we were in North Dakota earlier that year. We were staying at a hotel in Minot, around 50 miles from the Canadian border. Spotting the ground squirrels was easy. They were in the mowed grass bank directly in front of the hotel.
One morning we headed north to the Upper Soris Wildlife Reserve and passed the main gate of Minot Air Force base. Later as we drove south to Bismarck and an excellent dinner, a Boeing B52 flew in low from the south and passed directly overhead towards the base.l Minot is home to a B52 bomb group, an aeroplane that entered service in the year I left primary school. I can even remember the excitement of the boys in the school playground at the hope of seeing the new Stratofortress. It only took 49 years.
However, I was amused to see that Minot Air Force Base was in the news earlier this year because the whole place is being over-run with Dak-Rats i.e. Dakota Rats, as these ground squirrels are called in the base. The US Air Force was suggesting that not only do they spread disease but their tunnelling undermines housing, runways and other equipment.
And it not just the air base that is concerned, the 48,000 inhabitants of the city of Minot are also complaining about the increase in numbers and the problems the ground squirrels cause. They are being shot, trapped and gassed with carbon monoxide in their thousands. And we thought ourselves lucky to spot a few next to the hotel. No wonder though that North Dakota has the nickname ‘Flickertail State’.
Heading out of the marina at Puerto Vallarta for two spectacular whale-watching trips, lizards above and below the boat's gunwhales attracted our attention. Sunning themselves in the early morning sun were Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) while on the rocks below was a Western Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura pectinata), the latter occurring along the coastal belt of north-west Mexico.
 |
| Green Iguana in the palms above the boat |
 |
| Western (Black) Spiny-tailed Iguana on the rocks of the marina wall |
Spiny-tailed iguanas are thus named for the keeled scales along their tail which are particularly pronounced at the anterior end, forming rings of spiny protrusions. Dark, often piebald, in colour another common name for the species is Black Spiny-tailed Iguana or just Black Iguana. By contrast, the young are bright green. Adult spiny-tailed iguanas are mainly herbivorous
The next time we came across one was on top of the wall of the old fort building overlooking the harbour and town at San Blas. It was longer (they grow to around 1.3 metres) and darker, moving occasionally to catch the rays of the late afternoon sun.
 |
| Western Spiny-tailed Iguana on the roofless wall of the fort at San Blas |
 |
| The rings of low spines can be seen on the tail |
 |
| The iguana was on the top of the wide wall of San Blas Fort (built in 1760) |
 |
| ...while Turkey Vultures made used of the modern facilities provided |
Willoughby Lowe (1872-1949) was a highly-praised collector for the Natural History Museum in London as well as an all-round naturalist. Counting just birds he added over 10,000 specimens to the Museum. Lowe wrote two books on the various expeditions of which he had been part and there are summaries available online on what he did and where he went. However there is little of his life and background. He travelled with interesting, important and infamous people in pursuing the zoology of the day. In an endeavour to provide a fuller picture of Lowe I have scoured family trees (often inaccurate or incomplete), original material available on genealogy websites (again thanks to clerical errors sometimes inaccurate) and the like. There are still important gaps and I hope readers will contact me if they have more information. To make that job more manageable, I am splitting Lowe’s life into parts. This fourth part deals with the aftermath of his collecting trip to the Philippines in 1907.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 |
| Painting from life of the Monkey-eating Eagle at London Zoo by Henrik Grønvold from Seth-Smith 1910 |
 |
| Claudio Lopez y Lopez |
To recap, Willoughby Lowe had called on his friend Father Llanos (the spelling varies by account) in Manila before leaving in August 1907. Father Llanos said that he would get a live Monkey-eating Eagle for him. Thanks to an article in The Ibis on that eagle and the species in general by David Seth-Smith (1875-1963 in 1910, I can add some flesh to the bones of the story. A search also showed that Father Llanos was the Rev. Florencio Llanos, Director of the Museum of Santo Tomas University in Manila who also seemed to have been known earlier by his double-barrelled surname Llanos y Lopez. The museum, founded in 1871, is the oldest in the Philippines.
I have combined information from the paper by Seth-Smith, passenger lists available online and additional information from seemingly reliable press reports. Seth-Smith followed up his article with a letter to The Ibis containing information on the bird bound for London and on the habits of the bird in the wild. Seth-Smith though provided the caveat:
It should, however, be understood that Father Llanos received his information from natives, and that it would be unwise to place too much reliance upon its exact accuracy.
Did Seth-Smith not realise that the best people to talk to about their native fauna are the local inhabitants? However, he may have been questioning the interpretation of what had happened when the bird was trapped since shortly afterwards another one was caught but it being larger broke the cord of the snare and escaped. This larger bird was referred to as a male but of course in birds of prey it is the female that is larger and so the ‘female’ bird in London may have been a male. But it wasn’t. Post mortem it did prove to be a female.
Llanos wrote to Willoughby Lowe on 12 January 1909 reporting that a specimen had been trapped alive on the island of Mindanao. It had been caught in September 1908 by using a noose set by native trappers with a small pig as bait. Another letter sent on 3 May 1909 reported that the bird was doing well in a large cage and renewing its tail feathers. On 13 July the eagle left Manila for Liverpool via the usual ports, the Suez Canal and Spain. It was looked after on board by the ‘Captain and two passengers’ according to The Field of 4 September. It was fed on chickens. The Captain of the ship was Ramon de Llano but I think he must have been the sole keeper for the last bit of the voyage since there were no passengers from Manila on board by the time the ship docked in Liverpool.
I have not been able to find if the bird was met on arrival by anybody from London Zoo or escorted at all on that journey which surely would have been by rail.
Seth-Smith noted that the eagle preferred eating newly-killed pigeons to rabbits and other small mammals.
Media and public interest in happenings at London Zoo in the early decades of the 20th century was intense and aided to a considerable extent by the Zoo’s publicity machine. The eagle appeared in numerous articles, sometimes with photographs, in the newspapers and magazines. The Daily Mirror, then aimed at a middle-class readership, carried a photograph as did several well-known magazines. Provincial newspapers throughout Britain carried a short syndicated piece.
 |
| Daily Mirror 2 September 1909 |
I suspect there were several elements that made this an attractive story. Firstly the name, Monkey-eating Eagle, conjures the vision of a huge predator swooping on monkeys in the tree tops. Secondly, it was the first seen in captivity outside the Philippines. Thirdly, an earlier but dead specimen had made the newspapers in London since it was the type specimen to which its scientific name was linked. The gist of the story (see HERE for details) is that Juan, the servant of John Whitehead the British naturalist-explorer, trapped the bird in 1896. The specimen was sent to the Natural History Museum in London. Its first appearance was at a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club held in a restaurant on Oxford Street in December of the same year. William Robert Ogilvie-Grant from the Museum who exhibited the skin named the the bird Pithecophaga jefferyi, the generic name to reflect its alleged sole prey of monkeys, the specific name, for Whitehead’s father who financed his son’s travels. The story of the eagle was, in a competitive era between museums, between zoos and between countries, seen as a double first for British zoology—alive and dead.
Seth-Smith used a painting of the bird at the Zoo by the well known natural history illustrator Henrik Grønvold (who also provided illustrations for Lowe’s The Trail That Is Always New). Anybody who has kept birds-of-prey will realise that the bird depicted is unwell. Indeed it survived only 5 months in London. Seth-Smith wrote:
On the 8th of February, 1910, this Eagle refused its food for the first time, and on the following day looked decidedly “out of sorts,” though it was impossible to determine what was wrong with it. It died three days later, the post mortem revealing tuberculosis as the cause of death. The atmosphere of London must be so very different from the pure air of the mountainous regions where this species has its home, that perhaps it is not surprising that it should be susceptible to a disease which is all too prevalent in large towns; but the loss of this fine bird, the first of its kind to reach any Zoological Garden, is very much to be regretted. It is satisfactory to know that the specimen, which proved to be a female, has been well mounted by Rowland Ward and is now exhibited in the Natural History Museum.
 |
| A drawing by Henrik Grønvold from Seth-Smith 1910 |
The Monkey-eating Eagle has had its name changed to Philippine Eagle and there is now a considerable amount of information on the Critically-Endangered species. It is the longest of the eagles but being a forest bird shorter winged than the eagles of open country. Seth-Smith said it reminded him of a huge goshawk. Both the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) from South America and Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) are heavier and bulkier.
Deforestation by logging or clearance for agriculture is the major problem for maintaining a stable population since the territory occupied by a breeding pair is over 40 square miles. The species has been bred in captivity in the Philippines since 1992 mainly by artificial insemination. However, when the amount of suitable habitat is limiting population regrowth, all the captive breeding in the world is not going to provide the solution.
The eagle in London in 1909-1910 was the start of zoos in Europe, North America and Japan having individuals on display until the late 1980s. One in Rome Zoo, an adult when captured, lived for another 41 years. A history of the individuals kept in captivity by Richard Weigl and Marvin Jones appeared in 2000.
Finally, a great deal is now known about what these eagles eat in the wild. They are opportunistic predators as the Wikipedia article shows, taking prey from the size of a small bat to a small deer. On islands where there are colugos (Mindanao) they are the main prey. On Luzon where colugos are absent, monkeys, cloud rats and reptiles make up the bulk of the diet. Domestic mammals and poultry do not remain unmolested; neither do large birds like owls and hornbills.
 |
| A photograph I took in Manila Zoo in January 1967 The cere shows signs of recent damage such as is seen in birds having flown into large mesh wire netting. I wonder if it had been in one of the large aviaries before being moved to this cage with relatively small mesh. |
Seth-Smith D. 1910. On the Monkey-eating Eagle of the Philippines (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Ibis 52, 285-290.
Seth-Smith D. 1910. [Letter]. Ibis 52, 758-759.
Weigl, R, & Jones, M. L. (2000). The Philippine Eagle in captivity outside the Philippines, 1909–1988. International Zoo News vol. 47/8 (305).
Willoughby Lowe (1872-1949) was a highly-praised collector for the Natural History Museum in London as well as an all-round naturalist. Counting just birds he added over 10,000 specimens to the Museum. Lowe wrote two books on the various expeditions of which he had been part and there are summaries available online on what he did and where he went. However there is little of his life and background. He travelled with interesting, important and infamous people in pursuing the zoology of the day. In an endeavour to provide a fuller picture of Lowe I have scoured family trees (often inaccurate or incomplete), original material available on genealogy websites (again thanks to clerical errors sometimes inaccurate) and the like. There are still important gaps and I hope readers will contact me if they have more information. To make that job more manageable, I am splitting Lowe’s life into parts. This third part deals with the first phase of his collecting trip to the Philippines in 1907. Part One can be found HERE and Part Two HERE.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TO IWAHIG
 |
| Palawan outlined with Iwahig marked with star Google Maps |
In his short paper published in The Ibis in 1916 he wrote:
…I accepted a pressing invitation to visit a cousin, Colonel White, who had charge of the Philippine penal colony at Iwahig, Palawan. Being himself much interested in natural history, and ornithology in particular, though having little leisure to collect, he was anxious that I should join him and make a collection of birds
Reading this, my interest was piqued. With the Americans having recently taken over the Philippines and therefore in charge of any prison, how had the cousin of an Englishman got himself into that position? It turns out that John Roberts White was still an Englishman at that stage in his life and was one of the numerous ‘characters’ Lowe had as his travelling companions during his career as a collector. Thus before describing what Lowe did while at Iwahig, it is necessary first to delve into the life of his cousin.
___________________________________________________________________________
JOHN ROBERTS WHITE. From English Soldier-of-Fortune to American Conservationist
I have drawn on White’s book, Bullets and Bolos (published in 1928) on his life in the Philippines (available online HERE) together with genealogical sources and the usual searches to write this account. In addition, White’s papers, held in the library of the University of Oregon, have been used in studies of the American presence in the Philippines. There is also a Facebook Post (14 April 2020) on White by Greg Hontiveros in the Butuan Heritage Society’s page.
John Roberts White was born on 10 October 1879 in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Sidney Victor White (1840-1913) and his wife, Elizabeth Roberts (b 1851). White senior had set up (initially with his brother Ernest E. White) the business in 1869 at 85 Castle Street calling the Reading premises Talbot Lodge Studios. He was well known for his portraits, his ability to copy documents and photographic prints (then a complicated process) for his sale of equipment to amateurs.
The first thing we learn of John’s life is that at the age of 17 he fought as a volunteer in what was called the Greek Foreign Legion in the short war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire in April-May 1897. White fought at the Battle of Domokos on 17 May.
White first entered the USA in 1898, aged 18 or 19 (no further details found). One source states that he travelled to Alaska and the Yukon during the gold rush in order to seek his fortune. Calculating from the account in his book he shortly afterwards joined the US Army. He then served in the Philippines as a private soldier and NCO where he was involved in dealing with the insurgency in Cavite Province. The USA had gained sovereignty of the Philippines as a result of the Spanish–American War of 1898. However, the Filipinos had already launched a revolution against Spanish rule and their ire at not being granted immediate self-rule led to an insurgency against the USA. The result was the Philippine–American War but even after that the Moros in the extreme south continued resistance—as they had to previous Spanish rule. After two years, White was discharged by the army to take up a clerkship with the military administration in Manila.
White wrote:
For a month or two after my discharge I lived in a "mess" in the Walled City—Manila proper. The old nomenclature of the city will probably fall into disuse, but in those days everyone knew the Walled City as Manila, in contrast with other sections of the city such as Quiapo, Tondo, Binondo, etc. Among a dozen of us young fellows, products of the latest civilization dumped down among the ruins of an Old World structure, were two ex-soldiers like myself who hailed respectively from Georgia and Kentucky. They were employed as clerks in the "Office of the Commissary-General of Subsistence of Prisoners," or some such imposing title. Owing to the transfer of the Filipino prisoners to Guam, their work ran out, but their pay continued; and those two youths spent most of their time cooling their throats and searing their stomachs with high-balls of rye and bourbon. The superior merits of Scotch whisky as a drink for the tropics were in 1901 unknown to most Americans. However, when our national intelligence was focused on this subject a full knowledge of the brew of Bonnie Scotland was speedily acquired.
Anyhow, Smith and Brown, as we'll call them, stuck to the liquor of their forefathers, spending their hundred dollars or so a month apiece on what they would call “a good old American drink, gentlemen—rye!" A hundred dollars in gold meant about 250 of the Mexican silver pesos current in the Philippines. A lot of whisky could be purchased for that sum. They went at it hard for weeks and by good team work avoided the provost guard. However, one day I returned early from the office to find Smith asleep and affectionately embracing an empty bottle while a noise in the back of the building led me to the tiled bath on the flat roof, where I found Brown scrabbling around under the impression that he was pursued by a gigantic lizard. And through the long thirsty years of tropical life ahead of me, the thought of that naked youth in the grip of delirium tremens often acted as a warning when the whiskies and sodas or the gin pahits (cocktails) were passed around too freely and too long.
Soon after the inauguration of civil government the need of an insular police force became apparent. The army, scattered throughout hundreds of small posts over the archipelago, was still engaged in hunting down wandering bands of insurgents; but the insurrection had degenerated into guerilla warfare of a particularly irritating nature, which bade fair to drag on indefinitely.
The army had broken the backbone of resistance to American authority; Aguinaldo and most of the principal chiefs were captured, killed, or had surrendered; but scores of minor chieftains were in the field while the long-established bands of those brigands, with which the Philippines, like all Malay countries, was infested, had fattened during the insurrection and were now ravishing the fairest portions of the islands. For the army to hunt down these small swift bands was like shooting snipe with a rifle.
A native police force largely officered by Americans was needed; in fact the army had already organized such a force under the title of Philippine Scouts. But the rub was that the civil government did not control the Scouts and there was much friction between the civil and military branches. The civil governor needed an armed force under his direct supervision, so on August i, 1901, Act 175 of the Philippine Commission created the Philippine Constabulary. Even now, thirteen years after my retirement from that little army, the name conjures up a flood of tender memories—of fights and friendships from Aparri to Bongao.
The Philippine Constabulary. Just two rather long words to most people, but as I write them tears almost ome to my eyes as the thrill of loyalty to the old corps still wakes an echo in my mind; and I see through the mist of time and years the epic and the drama which we youths were to play in the cultivated lowlands and in the wild mountain jungles of those myriad tropic isles.
The Manila newspapers gave full accounts of the new organization which was to stamp out brigandage; we saw fledgling officers strutting around in all the glory of their red- and gold-trimmed uniforms; several of my best friends obtained commissions as inspectors and urged me to join. But at first I hesitated. The Constabulary was ridiculed by many army men and from what I saw of its first halting steps I doubted whether the service would be attractive. However, the longing for further adventure decided me, and on October 18, 1901, I found my way through the narrow streets of old Manila to the first headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary on Calle Anda.
Behind a big narra table sat an army officer in civilian clothes: Captain Henry T. Allen of the United States Cavalry, detailed as Chief of Constabulary with the rank and pay of brigadier-general in the regular army. A few minutes' interview with him, a look at my discharge from the army and other papers, and, lo, I was changed from a mere civilian to Third Class Inspector John Roberts White, P.C. My salary was to be $900 United States currency per annum, which in my mind was quickly translated into its equivalent in Mexican pesos per mensis. I was promised an early opportunity to chase ladrones (brigands) in the Philippine bosques (jungles) and told where
I could purchase a uniform of gray linen or canamo cloth, the gilt buttons, and the broad red shoulder-straps with gold bars which were to adorn my youthful shoulders. I had just passed my twenty-second birthday and when I had donned those red shoulder-straps the world seemed a very pleasant place.
Our uniform was gray canamo cloth because in those early days it was thought better that it should not too closely resemble the uniform of the regular army. Much water was to run into Manila Bay before the jealousy between the army and the upstart Constabulary would be wiped out by memories of many a combined campaign in the swamps of Mindanao and the jungles of bloody Samar. In 1903 the Constabulary adopted a uniform similar to that of the regular army and with the same insignia of rank.
 |
| From Bullets and Bolos |
White was involved in the early years in the Constabulary with both military action against the insurgents and civilian policing. Insurgents were preying on outlying farms and punitive patrols meant he was often under fire from all sorts of weapons including boulders, bolos and bullets alongside his locally recruited constables. He killed and captured while living and moving in harsh country. On the ‘civil’ side he dealt with murder, robbery, cattle fraud (involving maiming, heating and twisting the horns into a different shape in order to establish false ownership) and the like. One episode involved the rounding up of illegal gamblers. When interviewed by White in his office one of their number—an American—introduced himself as a former comrade in the Greek Foreign Legion.
Bouts of malaria, some severe and one near fatal, laid him low:
Subcutaneous injections of quinine in my arm and hip, followed by liberal doses of arsenic, finally conquered the malarial germ. But it was not for weeks that I was strong enough to resume my Constabulary duties…In May [1905] I was granted accrued leave of absence for six months, and sailed on a North German Lloyd liner from Manila via Singapore and Europe for the United States. I had been in the tropics continuously for six years, almost all the time on field service involving exposure and hardship. I badly needed the rest and change of climate.
White was in Reading and nearby Caversham (where his parents had retired) in the summer. On 18 July Captain White of the Philippine Constabulary was initiated as a Freemason at the Union Lodge, Reading (still extant). It appears that be remained a member of the lodge until 1912. On 23 August he sailed from Southampton for New York. By October he was back in Manila, via San Francisco and Japan still with a month of leave left.
Assigned to Sulu in the far south the decision had been taken to attack apparently intransigent and belligerent Moros who objected to reforms like the abolition of slavery. The Moros were gathered in a volcanic crater, Bud Dajo on the island of Jolo. The US force comprised 661 men of the US Army, 6 sailors from a gunboat and 51 Philippine Constabulary commanded by Captain White. The US forces in three columns advanced up a steep slope and needed machetes to clear a path. The assault began on 5 March 1906 with White’s constables in the column of Major Omar Bundy. According to the Wikipedia account:
At 0700, March 7, Major Bundy's detachment encountered a barricade blocking the path, 500 feet (150 m) below the summit. Snipers picked off Moros, and the barricade was shelled with rifle grenades. The barricade was then assaulted in a bayonet charge. Some of the Moros staged a strong defense, then charged with kalises (the traditional wavy-edged sword of the Moros) and spear. About 200 Moros died in this engagement, and Major Bundy's detachment suffered heavy casualties.
That action is described by White in his book. During the final phase in which White and his constables were the first to reach the rim of the crater he was wounded:
…The slope below us was carpeted with dead and dying Constabulary and Regulars. I rose to urge my men over the wall of the fort. As I clambered up, a gaudily dressed chief slashed at me with a big kris or kampilan. I dodged, lost my grip on the wall, and fell back right in front of one
of the loopholes. Although I twisted myself out of the path of death as quickly as possible, I was not quick enough to avoid a bullet which passed through my left leg just above the knee. It was fired from a captured Krag rifle at a foot or two from my knee. The shock paralyzed me. Despite the heat of battle and a tropical sun, I became deadly cold and rolled helplessly away from the fort down the hill. My part in the Bud Dajo fight was ended.
Sergeant Alga and the faithful Fernandez gallantly came to my rescue. They helped me down the exposed area to the shelter of the trench near the abatis, there giving me first aid….An American hospital corps man gave us more efficient first aid. He stopped the bleeding of my wound by a tourniquet. Some of my soldiers returned from the victory and carried me down the mountain—an hour or two of agony that seemed like a week until I reached the field hospital at the base, where a surgeon gave me a shot of morphine. The battering, incessant pain ceased.
The final stages of the assault to reach the rim of the crater continued without White. The outcome for the Moros was devastating: 6 survivors out of an estimated 800-1000. Estimates of US casualties vary: 18-21 killed and 52-75 wounded.
The Wikipedia article describes the aftermath in the USA and notes that what turned into a massacre whether intentional or not was an ‘unmitigated public-relations disaster’.
This is White’s take on the matter:
The main defenses of Dajo were taken that morning, although twenty-four hours were required to complete the conquest of the mountain. We of the Constabulary were proud that we had reached the crater before the other columns. Over six hundred Moro men, women, and children were killed while resisting to the last. Humanly speaking, the incident was unavoidable. The proud fanaticism of the Moros had caused them to believe that they could resist the American Government. But, certainly, none of us believed that it would ever be necessary to repeat so severe a lesson. We thought that Bud Dajo would teach the Sulu Moros that the days of irresponsible government, of piracy, slavery, and cattle stealing, were ended. Yet six years later, in 1912, at Bagsak Mountain near Jolo, General Pershing was obliged to repeat the lesson.
Further Moro rebellions against the independent (after 1946) government of the Philippines and the occupying Japanese forces in the Second World War have occurred right into the 21st century.
White had a stiff knee for the rest of his life.
We have nearly reached the stage when Willoughby Lowe joined John White in the Philippines. White wrote:
After several months in hospitals and a good many manipulations of my knee, I was back at light duty in Zamboanga in August, 1906. One day I received a telegram from Manila headquarters stating that if I felt my leg sufficiently repaired, it was proposed to detail me as superintendent of the Iwahig Penal Colony, on the island of Palawan, at a considerable increase of pay. I was still on crutches. But I felt equal to any job which did not mean hiking and fighting, so I wired acceptance and returned to Manila.
Iwahig is on the island of Palawan. It is still a prison colony which tourists can visit. The now Major White’s orders were to establish a form of self-government for the penal colony but he had to do so against a background of disease, dysfunction and a recent mutiny. When he arrived in September 1906, the chance of surviving being sent to Iwahig were not high. Out of 1000 inmates, 250 died.
By all accounts White did a very good job of organising the convicts into working parties. The whole place was drained, cesspits covered, crops grown and buildings built. Within a year the death rate had dropped to 8 per 1000. Beri-beri, the cause of which was then unknown, was cleared up following the demonstration in Japan that incompletely milled rice solved the problem, He shipped a very few hardened troublemakers back to Manila and built up a team of trusted inmates. He felt completely safe, alone, in his unprotected accommodation. The only firearm was a shotgun used to shoot birds while discipline never involved physical force.
We know nothing of Lowe’s visit from White’s book because there is no mention of it. It might, however, be worthwhile for someone to search through White’s papers in Oregon to see if any letters there cast more light on White’s involvement in the natural history of Iwahig and for any correspondence with Lowe.
White left Iwahig in September 1908. After a short time in a desk job he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the Southern Luzon district. In 1909 he took leave for a journey around the world. In cold places he had recurrent attacks of malaria with a spell in hospital in New York where he created great interest with the various strains of malaria in his blood. December in English drizzle was no attraction and he headed for Spain before returning to Manila in March 2010. There he was given command of the Constabulary school for officer cadets at Baguio. There ‘under the pines’ he met Texas-born Fay Kincaid (1884-1980) whom he married on 13 September in Manila. He ended his book with:
Then there was another tour of duty at Zamboanga, a year as governor of the province of Agusan in Mindanao, and many expeditions among the liver-eating Manobos and other wild tribes. But those later years, my increasing ill health and final retirement from the Constabulary in 1914, for total physical disability on a pension of $100 a month for five years only—all that, and my return to health and participation in the World War, is another story.
During this period, in November 1911, White had become a naturalized US citizen. In 1914, White was 35. He and Kay travelled back to the USA via Japan and Hawaii.
I have only the barest details of White's role, now as an officer in the US Army, in the First World War which the USA entered in April 1917. His obituary in a newspaper stated that he had had served as a pilot and as deputy provost marshal (i.e. a constabulary role within the US forces) in 1918 before retiring again, this time as a Lieutenant Colonel. Shipping records show he returned to the USA on the White Star liner Celtic which left Liverpool on 22 January 1919. He was heading for Sandy Springs, Maryland.
I do not know if he joined the National Park Service of the USA before or after he served in the First World War. However, with the family, now including a daughter Phillis born in September 1918, was shown at a house in Olney (near Sandy Spring), Maryland in the 1920 census. His occupation is shown as a Ranger in the park service.
 |
| John Roberts White Early 1920 Sequoia National Park The photograph used as frontispiece for Bullets and Bolos US National Parks |
White was Superintendent of the Sequoia National Park in California in 1920-39 and 1941-47 where he became a fierce advocate for conservation in general and for protecting the giant redwoods in particular. One article on him indicates that he was briefly based at the Grand Canyon before moving to Sequoia.
In the 1930 census, White was living in the small town of Lemon Grove, about 14 miles from the Park headquarters and near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It would seem that in 1940 he was Regional Director of the Park Service; in the 1940 census he and Kay were living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
 |
| White in his office Sequoia National Park US National Park Service |
John Roberts White died in a nursing home in Napa, California on 9 December 1961. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia on 8 January 1962. The following is from the Napa Valley Register of 11 December:
In Napa Saturday, Dec 9, 1961, Col. John R. White, husband of Mrs. Fay Kincaid White, father of Mrs. Phyllis W. Cobbs of Chappaqua, N.Y.; brother of Miss May White of Cranbrook, Kent, England, Mrs. Timothy Breen of Sark, Channel Islands, England, and Charles White of Kenya, South Africa; grandfather of John and Nicholas Cobbs of Chappaqua, N.Y.
A native of Reading, England. Aged 82 years. A member of Grace Episcopal Church. He was a veteran of Spanish-American War, and retired a colonel in the Philippine Constabulary in 1914. He also served as a pilot in World War I, and was deputy provost marshal in 1918, retiring from the U. S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. He was formerly a regional director of the National Park Service.
___________________________________________________________________________
AT IWAHIG
 |
| From The Trail That Is Always New |
Panay fired its gun to signal its imminent arrival and White met Lowe with two launches in order to cross the few miles of the bay and reach the penal settlement up the Iwahig river. Lowe was greatly impressed by the tropical vegetation overhanging the river as well as the variety of brilliant birds and monkeys in the trees. Always on the lookout for specimens he shot two Blue-naped Parrots (Tanygnathus lucionensis) before reaching shore. It does not look many yards on the map between the landing and the settlement but Lowe noted that two ‘nice horses’ were ready for them at the landing and they galloped to White’s bungalow which was built of grass and surrounded by large verandah.
 |
| A satellite view of Iwahig and Puerto Princesa Google Earth |
Lowe continued:
Colonel [then Major] White was in charge of the convict settlement, and it was entirely due to his kind hospitality and interest in natural history, that I had been persuaded to make this long journey to the island. It seemed strange, and at first a little unsafe, to be surrounded by a horde of convicts! Colonel White had organised the entire community out of the actual prisoners, some acting as constables, others as clerks, blacksmiths, tailors, servants, woodmen, water carriers, fishermen, tillers of the soil, etc., but there was no real guard, so he was always at the mercy of the convicts. He managed them entirely by firmness and justice, and they well knew that, if they behaved themselves, they might possibly get a remission of their sentence. Badges were given for good conduct. The law courts in most colonial countries are not faultless, and there are sometimes cases where false evidence has been given and an innocent party sentenced. It was the constant investigation of such matters that made Colonel White so popular, and he succeeded in shortening the sentence or of obtaining a pardon for many of the convicts. Should any prisoner try to escape by running away into the forest there was a reward offered for their heads, and they were soon hunted down by the Tagbanos, who were the native inhabitants of the island. Although everything seemed so peaceful and well run, there was always a feeling of insecurity to the new-comer, and when one retired to sleep one could not help thinking there was a good chance of being murdered before morning! This wore off after a short time, and some of the men daily accompanied me when I was shooting, becoming quite friendly, and were much interested in the birds and other creatures I pursued. They were very skilful in trapping, by snaring and other methods, both birds and animals of every size and description, from Eagles to the smallest Flower-pecker, the latter about the size of a Humming-bird.
During one afternoon’s trip into the forest with White and their various helpers they got lost and walked for hours trying to find their way out. Eventually White recognised a spot where he had been before. They marched on as the light faded only to find a deep swamp and stream between them and Iwahig. Crocodiles were extremely common them and since the party appeared to be in freshwater they would have been Philippine crocodiles (Crocodylus mindorensis). Thus one lad went ahead to beat the water while the rest of the party followed. The stream though was deep—armpit deep— and Lowe had to hold his gun aloft as they tripped over logs in the dark. Once through and at the bungalow:
After some whisky and quinine, a hot bath and a good rub with alcohol, we felt none the worse for our adventure, and did justice to an excellent dinner. To preserve one’s health in the tropics it is absolutely necessary to live well and to take quinine and spirits regularly, but the latter not before sundown.
Quite so.
On 3 July he shot a butterfly he had hoped to catch. It was what is now known as the Palawan Birdwing (Trogonoptera trojana) and endemic to the island. It is a very large butterfly (wingspan 18–19 cm; about 7–7.5 inches). He shot it with one barrel of a twelve-bore loaded with No. 12 shot. Then moving forward to see it as a boy retrieved it from branches he suddenly found his foot about the descend onto the head of a large, coiled python. Instantly he shot the snake in the head with the other barrel containing No 6 shot. Lowe remarked that the ‘insect and reptile are probably the most curious combination killed by a right and left’. The Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus) was 18 feet long with a ‘girth as thick as a man’s thigh’.
Attempts to catch crocodiles were less successful. They took a monkey carcass concealing blacksmith-made iron hooks but freed themselves by struggling and straightening the hook. A White-bellied Sea Eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster) was shot, stuffed and mounted; it was presented to the Exeter Museum. It isn’t there now nor is the ‘life history group of woodpeckers’ given by Lowe and mounted at the Museum’s expense (£12), the story of the latter appearing in various issues of The Western Times in 1909. Lowe described it:
The Great Slaty Woodpecker [Mulleripicus pulverulentus] was nesting at the time of my visit. The nest was placed half way up a live tree and about sixty feet from the ground. The site chosen was on the edge of a forest clearing. One of the young birds was only half the size of the other, though both appeared to be of the same age. The tree was cut down, and the nest and birds, which were given to the Exeter Museum, have been well mounted by Rowland Ward.
Lowe collected in varying numbers the skins of 85 species of bird. The collection was acquired by the Natural History Museum in London. They can be found in the Zoology Accessions Register: Aves (Skins): 1909-1911 with the collector as W.P Lowe. A quick look showed only a few of them still in the collection. Lowe wrote in The Ibis:
During my stay the prisoners cut a trail of some miles through the forest, and though I spent a considerable time searching, I found nothing of special interest. As is usual in working in this kind of country, I lost a large percentage of the birds shot, the undergrowth being so thick. I also did a good deal of work wading up the streams which rise on the high ground, and collecting any birds that ventured out from the forest. As the island had already been visited by various well-known collectors, there was little or no chance of finding new species. Many interesting and rare forms were, however, secured, as well as two species that had not previously been recorded from the island.
Two species should be mentioned. The first is Cacatua hematuropygia, the Red-vented or Philippine Cockatoo. Lowe found it to be ‘one of the commonest birds on the island as well as one of the most destructive. When the corn is ripening large flocks descend and do an immense amount of harm. Late in the evenings I saw some dead trees white with the birds, and was told that they roosted there. They are said to be good eating, but I did not try them’. Now critically endangered, a small population survives on Palawan.
The second is the Palawan Peacock-Pheasant (Polyplectron napoleonis). Known as a beautiful bird it is rarely spotted in the wild. Ten skins were collected by Lowe. Only one of these he saw and shot; the others were snared and brought in alive by the convicts. He noted: ‘The flesh is delicious and tender’. White tried to breed them at Iwahig but found a grain diet as supplied to Jungle Fowl unsuitable. Captive-bred birds are now readily available but since the clutch size is only 2, it takes a time for stocks to be established.
Lowe stayed at Iwahig for two months. The wet season was approaching and it seemed a good time to return with his collection.
Approaching Iloilo on the passage between Puerto Princesa and Manila the boat was caught in the tail-end of a typhoon. Lowe had a miserable time, the boat’s pitching so great that in his bunk he was first on his head and then on his feet. Looking at the typhoon records for 1907 there is one which would match the dates. It ran from 5 August running across northern Luzon.
Late in reaching Manila Lowe missed his connection to Hong Kong and his berth on a P&O ship. He therefore decided to spend a few days hunting the Monkey-eating Eagle in the 12 days he had remaining in the Philippines. Diary notes kept by Lowe were sent to David Seth-Smith at London Zoo to include in his paper on the eagle which was published in 1910:
Aug. 10th, 1907. Left Manila for Antipolo.
Aug. 11th. After breakfast walked some miles into the surrounding hills—country not very promising, main range of mountains probably ten miles off. Inquiries showed Bosoboso impossible, as I had no camping outfit or transport.
Aug. 12th. Left early for San Mateo. Spent some hours making inquiries and was advised to try Montalban, the terminus of the Railway. A lovely spot and very promising-looking mountains for Eagles. Inquiries from natives as to prospect of finding large Eagles not promising, unless I was prepared to go a journey of some weeks northwards, where they could find Eagles large enough to prey on full-growm deer !
13th. Went with a guide to a cañon about five miles off, and followed the stream as far as we could get along it, but saw nothing of interest. After resting awhile decided to return home and climb to the mountains the following day. Had not returned far, however, before I had the pleasure of seeing two specimens of the much desired Eagle flying high over my head and close together. I watched them closely until they eventually disappeared up the canon, passing just over the tops of some small trees that were growing amongst some rocks on a high projecting point in the bend of the ravine.
14th. Left very early and climbed with much difficulty to the point over which the birds had passed the day before. Waited until long past the time at which they had previously passed, but no Eagles could be seen. As rain was falling returned home disappointed.
15th. Very wet, mountains buried in clouds. Wet season evidently commenced, so returned to Manila for Hong-Kong.
In his book he wrote:
I travelled as far as Antipolo by rail [around 13 miles as the crow flies]…It was interesting in walking along the paddies on the way to the hills to watch my native guide with his large bolo knife killing numerous snakes which lay in the grassy banks. He was barefooted, and he frequently struck at them with a "back hander" without the slightest interest or concern, seldom missing his victim and often cutting them clean in two. Rice was being planted and during the evening it was a pleasant sight to watch a bevy of girls each with a bundle of green plants, setting them in the muddy water, keeping tıme to music played on a stringed instrument, and thereby making a pleasure of what would otherwise have been a very monotonous work.
Before leaving Manila [on 16 August] I called on my friend Father Lanos [Padre F. Llanos in his diary], who said he would obtain a Monkey-eating Eagle alive for me…
That delivered promisedwill be the subject of my next article in this series.
When Lowe reached Hong Kong he was feeling ill. He abandoned plans to visit Canton and Japan. He also found that a shipmate from his journey out who lived in Hong Kong had nearly died of bubonic plague during one of the virtually annual outbreaks of what had become an endemic disease there. He found there was an ‘intermediate ship’ leaving Hong Kong for London and decided to take it. Available shipping records do not show his arrival in London or the name of the ship. It was, however, an eventful voyage:
I was glad to get aboard the ship and also to find that I had a cabin to myself, well "forrard" with three portholes. I had not been long on board when I had a bad attack of shingles, which did not leave me until we had passed Colombo. An epidemic broke out amongst the Lascars, which was very depressing as we buried two or three daily. Some the white passengers also became very ill. We landed a few of them at Gravesend, not too cheerful a name of a place for an invalid to arrive in! Owing probably to the lack of stokers, many of whom had been among the victims, we got a terrible list to port, as the coal had only been used from one side of the ship, which made walking the deck a decided difficulty before we arrived at Tilbury.
Willoughby Lowe arrived home in Devon from this first, ‘private’ collecting trip aged 34. What was then called the British Museum (Natural History) must have been impressed by his abilities because his next trip, in 1910, was as an ‘official’ collector for the BM(NH).
A FINAL BUT UNANSWERED QUESTION
How were Willoughby Lowe and his ‘cousin’ John Roberts White related? The only likely lead I have is that the mother of White was Elizabeth Roberts born in 1851 at Hawarden, Flintshire while the mother of Willoughby Lowe’s wife (who was also his second cousin) was Annie Roberts, born in 1843 and who lived not far from Hawarden in Cheshire.
Cross, A. 2021. The Philippine Constabulary. An example of American command of indigenous forces. Military Review. September-October 2021, 100-115.
Lowe WP. 1916. Some birds of Palawan, Philippine Islands. Ibis 58, 607-623.
Murray A. 2019. Bullets, bolos, and the Moros: Policing and Anthropology in the colonial Philippines, 1901-1914. MA Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
Seth-Smith D. 1910. On the Monkey-eating Eagle of the Philippines (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Ibis 52, 285-290.
Seth-Smith D. 1910. [Letter]. Ibis 52, 758-759.
White JR. 1928. Bullets and Bolos. Fifteen years in the Philippine islands. New York: Century.
